Sharing is caring with Yoogo Share and Mevo
New Zealand is getting into car sharing, and Yoogo Share is the country’s only electric car share service.
Running in Christchurch, with two small hubs in Auckland, Yoogo Share general manager Kirsten Corson (see page 12) says there is a big opportunity for businesses to optimise their fleets and make smarter mobility decisions.
“The answer for New Zealand is not to keep doing what we have always done, which is buy petrol cars that are hardly utilised,” Corson says.
In 2016, Corson and co-founder David Jenkinson saw an opportunity for car share with electric vehicles, and quietly started work on it.
“Over 1000 New Zealanders die every year from air pollution-related diseases in New Zealand,” Corson says.
“I look at this and go “we have to do something different; we have to innovate.”
Corson notes that most cars sit stationary 95% of the time, and all this capital is tied up in depreciating assets.
“How do we optimise assets? How do we help businesses make better decisions?”
The Yoogo Share car share fleet tackles those problems and is available for private and business customers.
Corson says Christchurch City Council has been an amazing partner for Yoogo Share, and since February 2018, 200 tonnes of carbon has been saved just in Christchurch.
Yoogo Share has 2000-plus bookings a month and 3000 subscribers in Christchurch.
Corson says as a city it has shown great leadership.
With Yoogo Share, you are able to book a vehicle for the amount of time you want.
Parking, insurance and fuel is all taken care of.
“A car is the second biggest expense, after buying a house,” Corson says.
“Mobility is changing, and this is an exciting time to be involved.”
Yoogo Share has also introduced an after-hours “Club” subscription which has got Cantabrians selling their cars.
Club members have a car available every evening and weekend, costing $99 a week.
Two EV models are available with Yoogo Share – the Hyundai Ioniq and BMW i3.
“It’s a really compelling offer,” Corson says.
“Many club members have said they would spend over $100 a week on petrol, so driving pure EV saves them money and makes them feel good.”
When Yoogo Share launched, it was New Zealand’s only pure electric car sharing business, and it still is.
Admittedly, Corson says Kiwis love to own their own cars, so it will take a while for the sharing economy to really flourish.
In August, New Zealand’s largest electricity retailer Genesis invested $2 million for a 40% stake in Yoogo Share.
“It’s exciting, Genesis is a wonderful partner,” Corson says.
“We are expanding into Auckland, and Wellington will follow.”
Over 50 businesses are subscribed to Yoogo Share in Christchurch, which gives them access to pure electric vehicles and parking in the CBD in a premium carpark close to work.
Yoogo Share launched one-way airport travel two months ago, which Corson says has made a big difference to the business.
This new service is a “mobility game changer,” $22 for 90 minutes travel time between the airport and CBD.
“It’s convenient, cost effective and you are doing your bit to improve air quality,” Corson says.
“We even have customers that pick up our cars the night before, for an early morning flight.
It’s cheaper than a taxi.”
There are eight team members at Yoogo Share, including Corson.
Since being involved with the car share service, she has sold her car and has converted to a club membership.
Mevo is another car-sharing service, exclusively operating in Wellington.
Recently, Mevo secured $500k EECA funding, which will be going towards adding 100 fully battery electric vehicles (BEV) in early 2020.
“It’s a pretty exciting time for us,” says Mevo chief executive Erik Zydervelt says.
“The number of trips our members are taking has been growing on average 20% every month since we launched our first cars over two years ago.”
Zydervelt echoes Corson’s thoughts, saying the average car is used around 4% of its life.
“International research shows that for every car share vehicle deployed, 10 cars are taken off the network,” Zydervelt says.
“Mevo does tens of thousands of trips every year, with thousands of members.”
However, Zydervelt says Mevo differs from other car-sharing services as once you pick up a Mevo car, you are not required to drop the car off at the original place of pick up.
Free-floating sets Mevo apart from others.
“There’s where we differ quite a bit,” Zydervelt says.
“We’re working with local government to create a future mobility that doesn’t look like booking and returning.
That’s just not more convenient than private ownership.”
Mevo also has the added option of hybrid plug-in Audis, which Zydervelt says is great as more people can experience that electric driving experience.
“With the plug-in hybrids you have that really comfortable, stable feeling that the car isn’t going to go dead once the battery runs out,” Zydervelt says.
“With the VW Polo option, we give members a cost efficiency, and consistency in the look, feel, and a consistent product experience.”
“Since the start we have tried to be very pragmatic about our approach to environmental impact.”
Mevo monitors and offsets carbon emissions, and reduces emissions by charging its hybrid electric models on New Zealand’s 80% renewable grid.
Mevo has dealerships that partner with the service.
The car-share works with local dealerships Armstrong Prestige Wellington and Gazley.
European Motor Distributors, a subsidiary of the Giltrap Group, is also an early investor in Mevo, alongside Z Energy.
“We do move a few vehicles through dealerships.”
Zydervelt says Mevo is approaching different markets from dealerships, for people with different needs.
“For many people in the future, vehicle ownership won’t be the most desirable option.
The total number of vehicles on the road will decrease by some magnitude within 10 years.”
But Zydervelt says dealerships are good at what they do.
“Running a car share is incredibly different from a dealership and requires a different skill-set.We are not an automotive company; we are a tech company.”
The two vehicle options at Mevo are the Volkswagen Polo and the hybrid plug-in Audi a3 e-tron.
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